3/15/14

Andi Dier. a transgender woman from New York was roughed up by the employees of The Irish Times Pub and Restaurant in Holbrooke as they bruskly removed her from the premise. Ms Dier says they used transphobic slurs and tried to take her I phone after seeing she had recorded part of the incident.

They then stole her state issued ID and had it not been for a stranger outraged over her treatment, she says the employees would have kept it.

Most New York transgender citizens are not protected against discrimination as the legislature has repeatedly failed to enact Genda

From Andi Dier's Tumblr Post:
"The incident started from a lack of competence on the 14th of March; I was being harassed about how my state issued driver’s permit didn’t look like me. But it did, because it was, however I had makeup on. I patiently explained that I was transgender. In response, the staff condescendingly told me, “… that’s your fault.” Demanding that I come back with a new I.D. But this card was not expired. I haven’t had any surgery. And they wouldn’t have told a cisgender girl that her I.D. was invalid simply because she decided to sport makeup that night which she hadn’t previously photographed. This is a clear issue of discrimination."

"When I tried asking for the manager the staff not only ignored my request; they violently slammed me against the wall when I was not attempting to advance any further into the building. One of them, bearing three times more weight, kept charging at me with untempered fury; breaking the door behind him. This was after I requested their names and upon noticing my phone in hand they attempted to steal and smash it."

"They behaved unprofessionally, acting out of ignorance and rage. When my friends, who’d already been let in, tried calmly explaining the situation to the staff they replied by intentionally misgendering me as a “he.” After being corrected they used transphobic slurs like “he-she” and “it.” When I attempted to show my legitimate I.D. they swiftly stole it from my hand, refusing to give it back."

T"hey stole a government issued permit. They chuckled as my night was ruined, along with my mascara. They publicly embarrassed me. They made me feel unsafe.
We (as trans people) are denied access to proper healthcare. We’ve been denied access to the bathroom. And now we can’t even get into the pub."

I contacted Andi on facebook she provided this explanation of what happened:

I was assaulted in the vestibule of the pub. I did not make any advancement to further into the building. The security wouldn't let me ask for a manger without violently pushing me out. They said their names were Rob and Matt, as stated in this audio clip:

They took my driver's permit after I took it out to show them that this was me. I did not get it back until the end of the night when someone else, who I did not know, had to aggressively fight for it. Without them I'd still be without it.

I asked Andi if she considered the Pub's employees action a physical assault and if she had contacted the police yet.

If pushing me, with unnecessary force when I'm at least half the weight of them, so untempered and disregard for physical consequences that they smashed me into the wall and broke the closing mechanism on the door is physical assault then yes. They kept pushing me out when I was asking for a manager, getting more and more aggressive. I was honestly starting to fear for my well-being but my ride was inside. They did not lighten up on the physical contact until I shouted, "This is physical assault. You're physically assaulting me." As if acknowledging their own wrong doing, their touch lightened up.

And no. I've not yet contacted the police. I've been afraid they wouldn't do much, if anything, and was scared the situation would escalated further. Police do not have a good history of understand trans* folk.

Two days after a courtesy ride by Philadelphia police on December 22, 2002 transgender woman Nizah Morris died at a Philadelphia hospital of a subdural hematoma, the result traumatic blows to her head. Her family believes that police murdered her and have received a $250,000 dollar settlement in civil court where it is easier to fix blame, but her murder remains unsolved today.

Here's what we know. The police report on her death was 'lost' and not was not recovered until eight years later in 2011.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's office refuses to make public crucial information regarding their investigation into transgender woman Nizah Morris' murder.

Two police advisory commissions have been convened to investigate. Nether were allowed to disclose what they learned from the Philadelphia District attorney's records but the second reconstituted commission recognizing they had reached the end of their legal tether issued this statement:

We therefore intend to forward a copy of this advisory opinion to both the Pennsylvania Attorney General and the federal Department of Justice, and urge both agencies to review the facts and the Police Department’s investigation in the Nizah Morris homicide.

As much as the Philly DA would love it there are many of us who will not stop demanding justice for Nizah Morris. There is a group of concerned citizens who meet frequently to strategize.

Advocates for Nizah Morris say they’ll contact city and state lawmakers for help in obtaining a state probe into the transwoman’s death.

Morris, 47, became a homicide victim in 2002, shortly after entering a police vehicle for a “courtesy ride.” The case remains unsolved, and advocates want Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane to step in.

At this week’s meeting of the Justice for Nizah committee, members agreed that support from elected officials could help persuade Kane to intervene.

Jason Goodman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition, said he’ll contact the Pennsylvania LGBT Equality Caucus, composed of state legislators who support equality for LGBT Pennsylvanians.

“With every delay, more community stakeholders are invested in securing justice for Nizah Morris,” Goodman told PGN. “The movement for a complete investigation will be made stronger by state legislators taking a stand for Nizah. The Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition will work as swiftly as possible with our partners in the state government to advance her case.”

Transgender advocate Jordan Gwendolyn Davis said she’ll contact Philadelphia City Council, to urge that a resolution be passed in support of a state probe.

“I believe it would be very powerful if Philadelphia City Council supported an independent probe into the Nizah Morris case,” Davis told PGN. “While City Council made our city one of the most trans-friendly in the nation, it would all be in vain if they ignored the epidemic of violence against transwomen, especially transwomen of color.”

Ms. Davis told planetransgender in a statement "I believe that it is necessary that there be an independent probe. With great power comes great responsibility, and the police deserve scrutiny in this case. If the police and DA do not release full unredacted documents, it will be the position of the transgender community that there isn't much difference between cops and street criminals."

Some things remain the same.

The House and now the Mississippi Senate has passed a bill making it legal for a person to sue for an infringement of their religious beliefs.

Here's the unbelievable part. The act doesn't have to be committed, the offended party only has to believe it will or could happen.

Seeking to squelch public outrage and legal concerns the law will be discussed three times publicly in committee.

Source Jackson Free Press "The Mississippi House of Representatives passed the RFRA—Senate Bill 2681—proposal 80 to 37 after its Republican sponsors, in a face-saving move, amended it to create a legislative study panel. The amended bill keeps a provision that would add the phrase "In God We Trust" into the state seal, but removes controversial language that civil-liberties groups argued could clear the way for Jim Crow-style legalized discrimination."

"After dispensing with most other items on the calendar, the House went into a series of recesses in an apparent attempt for the Republican leadership to convince fellow Republicans to support the bill. When it became clear that the votes were not there, Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, offered the study committee as an alternative."

"It is our First Amendment right to worship the God we want to worship," said Gipson, who added that protecting that right was too important to outright kill SB 2681.

The bill will then go to the governor, who originally requested the law, for his signature.

The main proponent behind the bill, Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. serves as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He had the outrageous audacity to suggest in a audio message failing to enact the law would enable a KKK member to demand a Jewish deli owner cater their cross burning.

Is he serious? It's no secret who's under those sheets Mohler, it was your so called 'christians' And yes your ability to discriminate is now under national and state scrutiny. And yes you're discriminatory message is falling on sparse crowds.